Who’ll take home the Tony? Count on wins for Tom Hanks, Cicely Tyson and Cyndi Lauper

A hard-boiled New York columnist. A fierce British cross-dresser. A sexy whip-cracking ringmistress. And a wily and determined homesick mom.

That’s just a sample of the colorful characters on deck at the 67th annual Tony Awards beaming live from Radio City Musical Hall on Sunday.

Neil Patrick Harris hosts the celebration of Broadway excellence, airing at 8 p.m. on CBS, as he has done three previous times. Expect an evening packed with corset-tight contests and world-famous faces.

Like Tom Hanks’ when lead actor in a play is announced. The two-time Oscar winner is one of the evening’s rare races looking like a lock. Deservedly so for his gritty, grabby take on the late great Daily News columnist Mike McAlary in Nora Ephron’s play “Lucky Guy.”

Joan Marcus

Patina Miller is nominated for 'Pippin,' in the role made famous by Ben Vereen in 1972.

But shout-outs to Nathan Lane’s striking work as a gay burlesque showman in “The Nance” and Tracy Letts as a mercenary George in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

When lead actress in a play is called, Cicely Tyson will journey to the winner’s circle for her star turn in Horton Foote’s tender drama “The Trip to Bountiful.” The ageless Tyson gives a plucky performance as an aging mother determined to return to her hometown, and her long acting history will tip the votes to her favor.

That’s the psychology of awards shows.

But there’ll be no grousing from me if the wonderful Kristine Nielsen upsets expectations for her performance as a sad-sack sister in “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” She is hilarious, heartbreaking, indispensable.

REUTERS

Billy Porter is drag queen Lola in 'Kinky Boots,' the musical by Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper.

In a quirky Tony twist, the lead actor in a musical is a shootout between two men who act up and dress up as women — Bertie Carvel, who plays ogreish schoolmaster Agatha Trunchbull in “Matilda,” and Billy Porter, who portrays glittery drag queen Lola in “Kinky Boots.”

In his Broadway debut, Carvel is great at being awful. But Porter is the beating heart of his show. Porter takes it by a toe.

In another noteworthy coincidence, the neck-and-neck race for lead actress in a musical is between two women revisiting iconic roles.

As the princess-to-be in “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” Laura Osnes puts her own sweet mark and silky voice on the role Julie Andrews played on TV. As the troupe leader in “Pippin,” a part that put Ben Vereen on the map, Patina Miller commands attention every every minute she’s on stage — or twirling above it on a trapeze. Hard to top such major magnetism.

Sigourney Weaver (l.) and nominees Kristine Nielsen and David Hyde Pierce in 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.'

The 2012-13 theater year brought a number of happy returns, when it came to revivals of plays and musicals. Director Pam MacKinnon’s take on Edward Albee’s 51-year-old portrait of marital pain, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” was a highlight of the season. It closed in March, but Tony voters will remember. And Stephen Schwartz’s musical “Pippin,” which premiered in 1972, has come back as a one-ring circus of pure joy. This category’s easy to call.

The best play of the year is a little less clear-cut. But Christopher Durang, who’s been writing for the New York theater for decades, finally appears poised to take home a Tony for his “Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike.” It’s a quirky riff on Chekhov’s mopey characters that’s filled with harlotry and heartache — a delicate and delicious balance.

And last but by no means least, the fight for the all-important best musical comes down to two shows set in England. One is the homegrown “Kinky Boots” by stage vet Harvey Fierstein and rookie composer Cyndi Lauper that takes place in a struggling shoe factory.

The English import “Matilda,” by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin, unfolds in a harsh boarding school. Both come with pros and cons, but considering the ambition, oddities and eye-popping design of “Matilda,” the English win this battle.

But don’t shed tears for “Kinky Boots” or for Lauper, the Queens girl who broke through in pop music by declaring that girls just want to have fun. Lauper will have loads of that when she wins — and she will — for her score. Her songs are infectious, high-spirited and colorful — just like her. Set your DVR for that moment — and all three hours of them.

jdziemianowicz@nydailynews.com